Richard Strauss worked from 1978 until his retirement in 1998 as a doctor at Ohio State University.

AP

Hide titles

Switch titles

AP

Richard Strauss worked from 1978 until his retirement in 1998 as a doctor at Ohio State University.

AP

A doctor at Ohio State University has sexually abused at least 177 male students for nearly two decades, according to a comprehensive independent study commissioned by the university. The greatest abuse of the doctor happened under the auspices of the medical care of the students.

Richard Strauss worked at the OSU from September 1978 to March 1998, mainly as a Doctor in the Sports Department and Student Health Center. The investigation found that university staff already became aware of the abuse of Strauss in 1979.

"Despite the persistence, seriousness, and regularity of such complaints, the University did not take any significant action to address such concerns by January 1996." When they were first appointed as officials outside the Department of Student Health or Athletics it in the report.

As a result, Strauss was suspended from work as a treating physician at the OSU. The school eventually removed him from his departments, but it stopped him as a permanent faculty member. He retired voluntarily in 1998, with the status of "emeritus" from the university. Strauss took his own life in 2005.

"The results are shocking and painful to understand," said current OSU President Michael Drake in an email to the OSU community school doctor “/>

"On behalf of the University, we would like to thank everyone who has # 39; have suffered abuse, profoundly regret and sincerely apologize, "said Drake, who became president of the school in 2014. Preventing this abuse was unacceptable – as well as the inadequate efforts to thoroughly investigate the complaints made by students and staff.

Drake added that the university has initiated the process of revoking Strauss' emeritus status and "will take additional action if necessary. "

" Dreams were broken, relationships with loved ones were damaged, and the damage is now being transmitted to our children, as many of us have become so overprotective that it strains the relationships "I'm with our children," said Kent Kilgore, a survivor of Strauss & # 39; abuse, in a statement to The Associated Press.

The OSU announced that it initiated an independent investigation last April after a former student alleged abuse and stated that there may have been others who had experienced Strauss's sexual misconduct.

The law firm Perkins Coie's investigations were conducted by a former federal prosecutor and a former federal government ethics lawyer. Both had experience in investigations with survivors of sexual abuse of men.

They interviewed 520 people, including 177 men who claimed to have been mistreated by Strauss.

The more than 230-page report contains a litany of painful abuse stories by former students who went to Strauss for medical attention.

The cases of abuse often included inappropriate touch on a student's genitals during the examinations in a way that was not medically useful. A number of students said that Strauss "would routinely touch her genitals at each visit, regardless of any medical condition she presented, including sore throats," the report said.

The report also states that members of 15 university sports teams have been abused. According to the report, Strauss most often targeted wrestlers – 48 of them. And the abuse often became clearer on several visits.

"We observed that in many cases a student's most outrageous abusive experience did not occur when he first met Strauss, but the abuse escalated over time in a series of studies with the student," states the report states ,

Other students reported that Strauss often showered with teams and seemed to stare at the students when they were naked in locker rooms and uncomfortable.

A former footballer told the investigators that sometimes Strauss drove only one lap when the team finished the training. "The student noted that it was a common belief among the players that Strauss served as a pretext for showering with the team, and athletes would try to take a shower as soon as possible," the report said.

Dozens of people working as coaches or sports coaches told investigators they had heard rumors and complaints about Strauss. The abuse was so widespread that some students got the idea that it was simply accepted by other university staff.

"Many of the students considered Strauss's behavior an" open secret ", as they felt that their trainers, coaches and other team doctors were fully aware of Strauss' activities, and yet, few seemed inclined to anything to stop it, "the report said. The students feel that the abuse is a cloud or a rite of passage.

The university had taken disciplinary action against Strauss only after a series of complaints from students in the mid-nineties. He also opened a private men's clinic outside the campus near the university, where he continued to abuse patients, and retained his title as a faculty professor.

As Gabe Rosenberg and Adora Namigadde of the WOSU member station reported:

"At least 50 students filed lawsuits against the state of Ohio because the university knew about it and refused to respond to complaints about Strauss to mediation.

"It's what we said – they did not act – identified or acted, and now we have a confirmation," said Brian Garrett, one of the main plaintiffs, in an interview on Friday. The university has forwarded the report to the Columbus Police Department, the Franklin County Procuratorate, and the Ohio Attorney General. "

The investigators and the president of the university thanked the survivors for coming to share their stories.

"This independent investigation was completed because of the strength and courage of the survivors," said Drake.